As an avid reader, I took on the challenge of redesigning book covers for iconic novels as a way to flex two skills at once.
Through this project, I learned how to translate the feelings these stories gave me into cover artwork that felt true to the work. I utilized Procreate for iPad to create the illustrations, then brought these into Photoshop to create the layout and mockups.
The Bluest Eye
I created cover artwork for Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye following her death last year. I remember reading this book as my first introduction to Morrison. The way that Morrison is able to take you into the minds of the characters in her works taught me the important lesson that we all see and experience this world differently.
The Bluest Eye is full of sorrows in many different forms, so I wanted the cover to feel serious. To achieve this, I went for a stark, line-art style with minimal colors and shading.
Aug., 2019. Drawn in Procreate.
Phantom of the Opera
My book cover for Phantom of the Opera started out as part of a local contest.
I wanted to pull in the dark feeling that you get from reading the book. You can imagine those passages with all of the trap doors and someone always lurking, watching. It becomes more clear as the novel progresses who is really in charge at the Paris Opera. I’ve chosen to portray Erik here with glowing eyes of the beast he is made out to be throughout the novel.
April, 2019. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
This book cover started as an entry for a local contest.
I was inspired by the plot of the novel, which meanders as we follow a man on a journey to find a giant sea creature terrorizing boats.
As the book continues it almost becomes a series of more and more unbelievable and fantastical events. As each section of the book seems very removed from the one before it, I went with a concept that plays on the separate elements we see in the story that sort of appear along the way.
The colors I used speak to the path the novel takes from a bright, cheery adventure to a more dark social commentary.
April, 2019. Drawn in Procreate.